I avoid fruit & veggies :(

previn84
previn84 Posts: 48
edited October 3 in Recipes
Ok, so I know there are so many ways I could "sneak" veggies into my diet. Like lettuce and tomato on my sandwich at lunch. A salad and beans at dinner. An apple for a snack. Or a banana with breakfast cereal. But for whatever reason I don't add them. I don't hate veggies, but I'm not thrilled about them either. I'm not trying to shift any blame at all, but I just never had them growing up, so I never learned to cook them or eat them regularly. I guess really what I need is some recipes that will incorporate a lot of my missing veggies but will take minimal time to prepare (I have a FT job and 7 month old) and also ones that will be not be too costly.

Replies

  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Look for a good side dish or vegetarian cookbook, either at a library, bookstore or online for recipes that sound good to you. Nothing, other than nutrient poor pre-prepared foods, are quicker to cook than vegetables and fruit (and they are good raw!). I think it's great that you are making the effort to add these to your diet now, so that your child will grow up with them as part of a normal diet.
  • lace0211
    lace0211 Posts: 53 Member
    You could look into The Eat Clean Diet Book. It has a lot of good easy cheap recipes:)
  • deathstarclock
    deathstarclock Posts: 512 Member
    Peanut butter with celery and raisins.

    GO FORTH YE ANTS ON A LOG!
  • silvergurl518
    silvergurl518 Posts: 4,123 Member
    v-8 is a great way to start!!!
  • landay
    landay Posts: 43 Member
    I think that frozen veggies are 100x tastier than canned. Boil them until they're nice and soft, and then fry them up in a little bit of olive oil in a pan, add some brummel and brown yogurt butter (45 calories per serving) and then season them with McCormick Season all. Quick, easy, and absolutely delicious!!

    I would also try adding cheese to the veggies until you can learn to like the tast of the vegetables themselves. I know cheese is high in calories, but it makes everything tastes great, and is a good buffer while you're learning to like things.

    Great job for trying to develop a taste for these foods. I used to not care for them either, but the mroe I tried them, my taste buds followed.
  • alexa_image
    alexa_image Posts: 387 Member
    If you really want to get your fruits and veggies in your diet, I can recomend you to use Shakeology
    I've been using it as my breakfast every day, you'll get all the nutrients. and you're eating fruits and veggies with a chocolate taste.
    It is the healthiest meal of my day.
    Awesome
  • mishmash73
    mishmash73 Posts: 166 Member
    Hello??? she's asking for recipes.... and with a 7 month old, i'm sure she doesn't want to spend too much time at the library or reading a cookbook... at least for me.... we're always busy.

    Costco sells a bag of stir fry vegetables that are awesome steamed (pea pods, water chestnuts, red peppers, mushrooms, baby corn, etc), . while it's steaming, cook chicken, shrimp, steak,etc.. mix together... SKIP THE RICE!! add a bit of chow mein noodles if you need a crunch.

    or steam fresh spinach and use as a bed under a chicken breast... easy peasy!

    and if you don't care for vegetables... try to only eat the ones w/the most bang for you buck... broccoli, spinach, etc. skip corn (useless yummy starch and not even a vegetable),
  • jrhstarlight
    jrhstarlight Posts: 867 Member
    I am the same way so try chopping your veggies fine and putting them in your hamburger patties or meatloaf etc or sauces for pasta. That way you get a serving or so of a veggie but don't taste it as much. I think that's the trick to make the pieces small enough to sneak into your food.
  • jennynmorris
    jennynmorris Posts: 10 Member
    Spaghetti!!! I always sneak veggies (onions peppers even shredded carrots or zuccini) into spaghetti for my kids and they do not even know or taste them. I saute them first then add them into a chunky sauce (that counts as a veggie too) :) Also, sloppy joes is another one I sneak veggies into or if you make hamburger patties i always put onions and peppers directly into the meat then grill them. Hope this helps and good luck!!
  • mehaugen
    mehaugen Posts: 210 Member
    Roast them!!! I roast any vegetable I try for the first time by default, it makes them taste the BEST! It also makes most vegetables taste SWEETER, especially carrots, red peppers, and broccoli. Just toss with olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, roast at 400 until they are fork tender.
  • msjamartin
    msjamartin Posts: 148
    This time of year I love to make soups and chilies in the crockpot. Easy to add all types of veggies into these and fairly simple to make.

    If you have more than you need for one meal, freeze it up in indiviual servings for lunches.
  • ebonaskavi
    ebonaskavi Posts: 42 Member
    Casseroles are awesome!

    http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/ranch-potato-topped-chicken-bake/46d2ac36-0f8b-460d-8b69-4fd9d1a165da/

    this is a tasty recipe and uses a bag of frozen veggies. I have made it with sticking whole chicken thighs and the rest of the filling ingredients in my slow cooker on low and then serving with a side of potatoes.

    Slow cooker recipes are great and the easy ones where you just dump things in and turn it on all day are great if you're busy/don't have time for cooking.
    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-vegetable-chili/detail.aspx is a really good veggie chili

    Also, whenever anything calls for sliced carrots in stew or soup etc. you can TOTALLY put in a big handful of non chopped up baby carrots...
  • smily_001
    smily_001 Posts: 131 Member
    halfmysize.com has some amazing recipes, that are easy and very tasty..
  • nursevee
    nursevee Posts: 344 Member
    Sit down and chart your intake for a whole week, write up a grocery list and instead of purchasing 100 cal snacks or other snack fillers, purchase a variety of fruit. When you plan your meals try and include 1 fruit and 1-2 veg with each meal. You don't need to hide it but find veggies you like (try and few different types). My breakfasts are usually either cereal or oatmeal with a banana and berries (I also make an egg on toast with a salad of tomato and cucumber - finely diced), snacks would be nuts and an apple or orange, lunch a salad or a homemade soup, dinner is a small piece of meat with broccoli/beans/sweet potato or sald). I stick to what I know and like and keep it uncomplicated. You have a small child, uncomplicated is best. Next piece of advice is find a few really good soup/stew recipes that you can make in the crock pot. I cook on the week-ends and then store and freeze (or refrigerate) for the week. Makes life seriously easy.
  • jennarandhayes
    jennarandhayes Posts: 456 Member
    If you really don't like veggies but want the benefits that veggies provide you could try Jerry Seinfeld's wife's book "Deceptively Delicious." http://www.doitdelicious.com/cookbooks/deceptively_delicious

    Here is a sample recipe from her website:
    Mac n Cheese
    " Prep time: 5 minutes, Total time: 25 minutes
    Serves 4

    ingredients
    1 1⁄2 cups elbow macaroni
    Nonstick cooking spray
    1 tbsp olive oil
    1 tbsp all-purpose flour
    1⁄2 cup nonfat (skim) milk
    1⁄2 cup butternut squash or cauliflower puree
    1 1⁄2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
    4 oz (almost 1 ⁄4 cup) reduced-fat or nonfat cream cheese
    1⁄2 tsp salt
    1⁄8 tsp paprika
    1⁄8 tsp pepper
    directions
    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the macaroni, and cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain in a colander.
    While the macaroni is cooking, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the oil, then the flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles a thick paste but has not browned, 1 to 2 minutes.
    Add the milk and cook, stirring every now and then, until the mixture begins to thicken, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the vegetable puree, Cheddar, cream cheese, and seasonings, and stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Stir in the macaroni and serve warm.

    Edited to add that many of the purees that she suggests you can actually substitute for pureed baby food so that you don't spend hours doing it yourself.
  • Hoppymom
    Hoppymom Posts: 1,158 Member
    Diabetic magazine (I buy it for my husband) has great, healthy, easy to prepare foods. Try roasting veggies or throw them on the grill or in th Forman grill. Easy peasy, toss in a little OVOO and add the herbs/spices you prefer. Yummy. Straight from the freezer into the microwave or a pot of stew/soup. Nothing to it. Give your child a great role model of healthy eating.:flowerforyou:
  • jgic2009
    jgic2009 Posts: 531 Member
    I think the easiest way, for a beginner, is stir fry. I generally start with a bag of frozen veg and then add whatever fresh veg is on hand. Quick, easy, and cheap.
  • star9401
    star9401 Posts: 34 Member
    Right now- I get a yellow squash and a green zhuccini maybe some canned or fresh mushrooms. I buy a bag of frozen pre chopped onion (and frozen pre chopped peppers, I don't have time to chop onion and peppers). I slice up half the yellow, half the green and add a bit of frozen diced onion, Pam butter flavor and the mushrooms. Saute covered for about 10-15 minutes or until they start to get soft. I add a bit of garlic powder and a bit of onion powder as well. I will eat that as a meal.

    Another one I liked, and have trouble eating raw tomatoes but this is good. Get some whole grain bread, some tomato basil farmers cheese, and some grape sized tomato. I broil it open faced for a few minutes in the oven until the cheese is melty and the tomatoes start to 'wilt' might add some spray butter to the bread. Yum.

    I also buy the green giant single serve microwave ones. 3 minutes and you get a 40-60 calorie serving of veggies just for you!

    If I could I would live on ritz crackers, cheese, and popcorn.. not so healthy.. I like veggies but I have to try too.
  • Nickstery
    Nickstery Posts: 324 Member
    Juicing is an easy way to mix fruits and veggies together, and can take in alot of the nutrients from them quicker then eating a salad.
  • mandypizzle
    mandypizzle Posts: 633 Member
    Do you like smoothies? I always throw in spinach, baby carrots and Kale in mine. You can't taste them AT ALL when you have fruit in them as well!

    Also, do you eat eggs? Load them up with things like zucchini, spinach, tomato, garlic, onion and yams!
  • mleoni092708
    mleoni092708 Posts: 629 Member
    I feel your pain! I'm the same way. I also work FT and have a 3 year old, so I try to make things that are easy/quick.

    Some of my favorites:
    Fresh mushrooms cooked in red wine over steak
    Hiding veggies in spaghetti sauce-spinach, mushrooms, zucchini
    Homemade soups-celery, carrots, spinach-pretty much anything you like
    Roasted broccoli with garlic, lemon, and parmesan cheese
    Fresh green beans sauteed with bacon and almonds, and a little butter
    Peel and cut apples, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar/splenda-cook on stove-homemade apple sauce!
    Banana and peanut butter

    Hope this helps!
  • previn84
    previn84 Posts: 48
    Juicing is an easy way to mix fruits and veggies together, and can take in alot of the nutrients from them quicker then eating a salad.

    Hmm I really like this idea! I'm thinking like premake a vat of it to freeze in cups and thaw it on my way to work. Very quick and I've had some great juices with like apples and spinach and all kinds of stuff. Great suggestion!!!
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